


Somewhere to Belong

by WingsofaMagpie



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Naruto in the Avatar World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-04-26 04:16:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14394090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingsofaMagpie/pseuds/WingsofaMagpie
Summary: Something goes drastically wrong when Naruko first confronts her dark half at the Waterfall of Truth. She wakes up in a world of bending instead of jutsu, surrounded by kids trying to save the world all on their own. She has to learn to navigate this new world on the brink of being destroyed by this Fire Lord and also try to figure out how she got here so she can go back home. She needs to get back, she needs to be there when Akatsuki make their move, and she needs Killer B to teach her how to control the Kyuubi! The answers she needs, to more questions than she realizes, are all around her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've revamped and rewrote this from my account of ffnet. I've recently gotten back on an Avatar kick and found myself revisiting this story. I changed a lot of things, mostly in the first chapter, from what I have on ffnet because of canon in Naruto, but aside from how I have the universe jump happen, I'm mostly ignoring canon when it comes to the Fourth Shinobi War. Absolutely no Kaguya I hate that arc.

Naruko stared at the Waterfall of Truth. As cool as Killer B was, she was annoyed that he wasn’t going to help her get control of the Kyuubi. If she could control his chakra, she could help her friends defeat Akatsuki! She wouldn’t have to be afraid of herself hurting them anymore.

She listened to Motoi explain what she had to do and she leaped over to the patch of land and sat down to meditate like he said. She felt the air change, something shifting over her skin. She heard a voice and opened her eyes.

“Why didn’t you give them your autograph at Ichiraku?”

The voice sounded like hers, and Naruko frowned at the shadowy figure inside the waterfall. “What?”

“They were suddenly nice and tried to get friendly with you, right?” The water broke as the person stepped forward, staying just under the edge of the water. Bright blonde hair, whisker marks, dark red eyes, the whites a pitch black - Naruko gaped at the copy of herself.  A cruel smile twisted her copy’s lips, something she didn’t recognize on her face as she stepped completely out from under the water. “They were disgusting, weren’t they? Everyone in the village used to treat us like we were diseased.”

Naruko clenched her fist at this copy’s words, remembering the guys in Ichiraku. She tensed her legs, ready to move if this copy did anything funny. “Who are you?”

The copy tilted her head, red eyes wide in fake innocence. “Can’t you tell? I’m you?”

Naruko took advantage of the fact that she was still sitting still and started gathering nature chakra. She shivered, feeling the air get thin. She kept her eyes focused on this copy, but through the waterfall she kept seeing shapes, weird shadows of giant animals. The more sage chakra she absorbed, the clearer the shapes became. “I didn’t make any shadow clones.”

“I’m the real you, the one that exists deep inside your heart.”

She lurched to her feet, pointing at the copy. She was fully immersed in her Sage Mode, but she was so focused on this copy that she didn’t realize how muted Captain Yamato’s and Motoi’s chakra’s felt.  “What the hell are you talking about? I don’t know you, stop making things up!”

Her copy ignored her, looking around curiously. “This place is called the Waterfall of Truth, right? I never thought I’d be able to come out like this. The spirit is strong here.”

_ The spirit? What the hell? _

Naruko felt a pulling sensation, pulling her towards her copy and the Waterfall, and dug her feet against the feeling. Her copy looked at her again, her bangs falling over her eyes. “I’m the real you. Your true self. Your inner spirit that you’ve denied exists.”

“The real me?”

Her copy glared, red eyes full of hate. “I’m the precious hatred inside of you. Your fears, all of your darkest thoughts, everything you deny about yourself. The dark part of you! The only difference is...” Naruko felt the Kyuubi’s chakra stir. If it was possible, the air got even thinner, colder, and all of the moving shapes on the other side of the waterfall stopped. It felt like countless eyes were watching her and the pull got stronger. “The Kyuubi has taken quite a liking to me.”

That cruel smile returned to her copy’s face. Naruko remembered the Toad Sage telling her about the fox, about how his hatred is so intense that he would find the slightest darkness inside herself. The copy shifted, and Naruko caught the movement and readied herself. They lunged forward at the same time, her copy shouting “I’m the real you!”

She and her copy met blow for blow. When her punches connected on her dark half, her’s connected on herself. Even with Sage Mode, her dark side was her equal. She made Shadow Clones, and so did she, the exact same number Naruko had made. The clones made quick work of each other, while Naruko engaged her dark half again. They were facing different directions, Naruko had her back to the waterfall while her dark half was on the little island. She didn’t pay attention to how muted her surroundings were getting, or how far away Captain Yamato and Motoi seemed, all of her attention was on her copy as they both used a clone to make a Rasengan.

She dispelled her last clone and charged at her dark half, who met her movements at the exact same time. Their Rasengan collided and Naruko felt something burst, like a build up of pressure had finally maxed out and couldn’t hold back anymore. The waterfall roared behind her as the Rasengan collided and she was thrown back. She flew into the water and felt her back hit something and then break through it. She gasped for air that wouldn’t come, water rushing down her throat. She heard the strange shrieks of animals, she felt claws and teeth, but she couldn’t see anything. A familiar roar broke through the noise, red and fire and heat building up and flashing behind her eyes as the Kyuubi surged against it’s cage. She felt another build up of pressure as the fox forced as much of his chakra as it could through the seal and she black out after feeling herself fall through another surface. 

 

* * *

 “Aang, are we going to get to the western air temple soon?”

“We're almost there guys, just a few more minutes.”

Everyone groaned as Appa continued flying. They were all in bad spirits since the failed invasion. They just wanted to get to the air temple and rest.

Aang grimaced, rubbing his forehead. Something felt wrong, and he kept hearing running water and splashes. It didn’t make sense, considering they were flying. He was used to the thinner air from flying on Appa so much, but something felt like it was pressing down on him. He had looked discreetly at the others, and none of them were reacting to anything.

He couldn’t stop himself from jeking Appa’s reins, hearing everyone scream in surprise in the saddle at the unexpected treatment, when he felt something break over his skin. He gasped, hands flying over his arms, sure he would feel something.

“Aang! What’s going on?”

He looked back at everyone, Appa keeping them steady. He could barely hear Katara over the sounds of screeching.Shadows danced across his eyes, shapes and creatures coming in and out of focus. “Something’s happening in the Spirit World!”

Sokka gripped Appa’s saddle. “What could possibly be happening there now?!”

Aang shook his head, body still shaking from that feeling over his skin. “I don’t know- “

A roar cut him off. At least he thought it was a roar. It was high pitched, but still powerful, and echoed loudly. Aang could  _ feel  _ the roar inside him. They all clapped their hands over their ears, and Appa groaned in pain at the sound, barely keeping steady.

The air suddenly got hot, which shouldn’t have been possible so high up. That weight pressed down on him again, and by the sounds everyone else was making, they could feel it this time. Aang forced his head to lift, seeing some kind of mirage in the air above them. The pressure burst again, at the same time a burst of light and fire erupted out of the air. The roar reached a louder volume before cutting off.

“Aang, what’s going on?!”

Everyone was shouting, but Aang’s eyes were ahead of them. He quickly grabbed the reins and yelled “Yip, yip!” pushing Appa into a dive. Thankfully, his loyal companion saw what he was chasing and started maneuvering himself. Everyone was screaming, Sokka and Katara especially. Aang lifted one hand and pointed. “Guys, catch her!”

Everyone gasped as they finally saw the girl falling through the sky. They grabbed onto the saddle as they raced to the ground in an effort to get below her. Haru reached out and grabbed her arm as they finally got under her and pulled her into the saddle. Aang pulled Appa out of the dive and steered him back up to a safer height.

Toph, fed up with not knowing what was going on, exploded. “Will someone please tell me what just happened?”

No one knew what to say. How could they explain that a girl just appeared in mid-air, unconscious? Teo answered Toph's question before she could get any more frustrated. “A girl just appeared in the air.”

Toph blinked. “Yeah, I kind of got the girl and air part from Aang. I meant everything before that, genius!”

Katara suddenly noticed the girl was injured. “Haru, give her to me. She's hurt!”

As Haru handed her over everyone took the chance to actually  _ look _ at the girl. She had long yellow hair that went to her waist and tan skin. There were also whisker-like scars on her cheeks. Tied around her head was a black headband with a strange leaf on it and a necklace with a green crystal was around her neck. Her clothes were the weird. She was wearing some kind of orange and black jacket but the sleeves and parts of the abdomen had rips and slashes and Katara found the strange clasp and pulled it off of her, leaving her in a ripped black undershirt. 

She was also wearing some really short shorts. Some kind of metal mesh continued down her legs down to her knees and a pouch was strapped onto her left leg. What looked like bandages were wrapped around her calves and she was wearing some black sandals, parts of her heels and her toes were visible. He calves were bleeding where something had slashed at her legs and Katara ripped off the ruined bandages.

She bended some water on her hands and started healing the bleeding gashes on her arms when the girl’s face suddenly crumpled with pain as she screamed and started to thrash around. She jerked her hands back and stared in shock.

“Katara! What did you do?” Sokka yelled as he reached out to still the girl, trying to be careful of her wounds.

Katara glared at her brother. “I barely touched her! How could I have done anything?”

The Duke was staring at the girls arms while everyone else got distracted by the siblings. “Uh, guys?”

"You're the only one who touched her. Who else could it have been?”

“Guys?”

“ _ I'm _ the only one who touched her? So did Haru, genius!”

“Guys!”

Everyone turned to the little boy. “ _ What _ !”

The Duke quickly spoke before they got too angry. “Look at her arms!”

They looked at the girls arms and expected to see the injuries but instead saw each wound slowly, one by one, knitting itself together until there was only pink skin left behind. The same thing happened to her legs, the wounds visibly steaming as they sealed until only some blood was left behind on her skin.

A groan had them all looking at the girls face. She was turning her head and her eyes slowly opened. They were all looking into the bluest eyes the had ever seen. Not Katara's and Sokka's ice blue but the deep, rich blue of the ocean or sky. They were hazed and couldn't seem to focus on anything.

“W-Where am I?”

The girl soon passed out before anyone could answer her.

“Will someone tell me what shocked you all silent, please? This is really frustrating you know.”

“The girl's wounds just healed themselves in a few seconds without Katara even touching her, Toph.” Aang said as he steered Appa to the ground and turned to everyone. “Appa's getting tired so we need to walk the rest of the way. Katara you can stay up here with her and make sure she's okay.”

Toph, The Duke, Haru, and Sokka climbed out of the saddle, the latter helping Teo. Katara checked over the girls arms and legs again, pulling at the rips in her shirt over her stomach and sides to check there too, but couldn’t see any wounds. She used her water bending to get the blood off of her skin, but couldn’t think of anything else to do.

She noticed the pouch strapped to the girls thigh again and took it off. Bitting her lip, she looked at the girl. It would be an invasion of privacy but there might be something about who this girl is or where she came from. She remembered the roar, and the sound Aang made just before it, and she unclasped the bag and opened it. Her brows furrowed as she rummaged through the contents. There were lots of strange knives but most of the room in the pouch was taken up by four scrolls. Bypassing the weapons, she pulled out the first scroll and opened it. It looked like a map, but it was all wrong. There were no four nations, but rather tons of other ones. The land was shaped all wrong, too. Looking at one of the larger nations she saw the same symbol that was on the girls headband on it. Looking around the country she saw it was called the Land of Fire.

“Guys there is a map in her bag and it shows she is from some place called the Land of Fire but I don't think she's Fire Nation.”

Sokka jumped up into the saddle and pulled his sister away from the girl. “Not Fire Nation? You just said her home is called the Land of Fire! It's too much of a coincidence! It could be some slang term for Fire Nation or something.”

Katara glared back and held the map in front of her brothers face. “Does this even  _ look _ like our map, Sokka?” Throwing the map at him she turned to Aang. “Aang, you said something was happening in the Spirit World and then she showed up in the middle of the sky. Could she have come from there?”

Aang scratched his cheek as he thought about the possibility. “...I’m pretty sure she did, but I don’t think she’s a spirit. I never really learned about the Spirit World, but maybe I can figure out a way to ask someone from there.”

“Twinkletoes, she’s definitely not from here. She appeared in the  _ sky _ .”

“Plus I don't know of anyone in the four nations with  _ yellow _ hair.” Teo added.

“Woah, wait. Your telling me she has  _ yellow  _ hair? _ Seriously?” _

_ “ _ Yeah, Toph. Her hair is really yellow. Hey guys, lets talk about this later. We're here.” Aang said with a smile on his face.

They looked around but all they saw was a ravine.

“Um, Aang? There's nothing here.” Sokka said.

Toph stepped forward and her eyes widened. “Yes, there is. It's amazing!”

They all climbed back on Appa, Sokka still looking suspiciously at the girl. They flew down into the ravine and gaped at the upside down air temple. They landed near a fountain in a courtyard and started unpacking. When they had a bed set up for the girl, they gently took her out of the saddle and placed her down. Teo, The Duke, and Haru left to go exploring while they rest sat at the fountain. Katara checked her over one last time before turning to Aang.

“Aang, what are we going to do now? You need a fire bending teacher for sure now.”

Aang turned away, not wanting to have the conversation, and saw the girls eyes slowly opening. Glad for a change in topic, he jumped up. “She's waking up!”

Sokka and Katara glared at Aang, but turned to the girl. Startling blue eyes once again looked at them, brows furrowed in confusion. “Who are you?”

They just stared at her as she spoke, no one able to find their voice as the name of her homeland flashed in their minds. Her eyes were still hazed but as they cleared up she suddenly shot up and disappeared. Sokka yelled and Katara, Toph, and Aang snapped around. The girl was behind him Sokka, pinning one of his arms behind him, the other holding a weird knife to his throat. Her eyes were watching them all with suspicion and anger. “Where am I and who are you people? Where is Captain Yamato?” She growled.

They were all too stunned and scared to answer. They had  _ never _ seen  _ anyone _ move that fast, and they were traveling with an airbender. Toph didn't even feel her move. Aang knew he needed to make sure Sokka was safe and took a small step forward, raising his hands to show he meant no harm. “My name is Aang. That's Katara and Toph and you have Sokka. You kinda fell out of the sky and we caught you. As for the last question, we have no idea who you are talking about. You were alone when you came. Now can you let our friend go and answer some of our questions?”

It was silent after he finished talking. Sokka was staring with wide eyes at them and was sweating. He felt the edge of the strange blade against his throat ease up and almost sighed with relief when it disappeared completely and the girl backed up. He ran over to his friends and turned around quickly to watch the new girl.

She was standing in some kind of battle formation that looked similar to a type of bending stance with the knife held in front of her and was watching them all with such intensity that he felt powerless and nervous under her stare. Even after Aang's assurance she didn't seem to trust them.

“Lets just sit down and have a calm and rational discussion. We answer your questions, you answer ours.” Katara reasoned.

The girl stared at them for a second before giving a curt nod of her head and stiffly sitting down, loosening her grip on her knife and laying it on her lap. They sat down across from her and Toph decided to break the silence first.

“So, what's your name?”

Blue eyes snapped to her and observed her, taking in the fact that she was blind but somehow able to know her surroundings, before answering. “My name is Uzumaki, Naruko. Or Naruko, Uzumaki. It is customary to introduce your last name first where I come from, but I'm obviously not there anymore.” She said with a wry glance to her surroundings.

They waited for her to give more information before realizing she would only answer what their questions asked.

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“Where are you from, Naruko?”

“My village is called Konoha, located in the Land of Fire in the Elemental Nations.”

“Elemental Nations? Like bending nations?” Sokka asked.

Naruko looked to him with furrowed brows. “What's bending?”

 .

 .

 .

 .

 .

Everyone stared at the girl with wide eyes and open jaws. It did soothe some of their fears that she was Fire Nation if she didn't know about bending, but it was still so bizarre seeing someone who knew nothing of bending. Naruko seemed nervous under their incredulous stares and the blank look that had been on her face vanished, only to be replaced by a nervous one.

“Um, did I say something wrong?”

Aang was the first to snap out of his shock and hastily reassured the girl, waving his hands around. “No, no, you said nothing wrong. We were just surprised you didn't know about bending. It's kind of common here.”

Naruko seemed to have relaxed a bit with them as her face softened and she smiled a little. “Okay, but can you tell me what bending is?”

Katara watched her carefully, but her reactions really did seem genuine. “Um, well certain people are born with the ability to bend one of the four elements – water, earth, fire, and air – to their will, pretty much, with training. I'm a waterbender, Aang's an airbender, and Toph is an earthbender. I'd think it'd be easier to give you a demonstration, though.”

Katara followed her statement by uncapping her canteen at her hip and bending the water out to float in the air in between them. Smiling softly at the childlike wonder that was visible in her blue eyes, Katara flicked her wrist and the water flashed out around the girl and back into her flask.

“That was waterbending,” Katara motioned to Aang, “Aang, show her something.”

Aang smiled and nodded before jumping up and forming his air scouter. He watched Naruko's eyes widen in wonder and smiled as he let the scouter disappear. “That's an example of air bending. Toph, you're up.”

Toph smirked. “Just letting you know that yes, I am blind, but I can use earthbending to see by feeling the vibrations in the ground. Oh! I can also bend metal.”

With that, Toph punched the ground. Naruko jolted in surprise as a portion of the rock beside them rose from the ground. No longer able to hold it back Naruko burst.

“That is so  _ awesome _ ! I’ve never seen someone use the natures like that before! Do you not have a fire bender though? I mean, you have the other's so why not fire?” Naruko said as she cocked her head. 

Aang's, Toph's, Katara's, and Sokka's smiles dimmed as they thought about it. Sokka answered in a depressed tone. “We have been at war with the Fire Nation for a hundred years. They wanted to control everything so the Fire Lord at the time used the power of a comet to wipe out all the airbenders. Aang was the only survivor. He's the Avatar – someone who can bend all the elements – that's why the air benders were attacked, to make sure there was no Avatar to stop them. Katara and I found Aang a few months ago frozen in an iceberg with Appa, the bison. He had been frozen for a hundred years and knew nothing of the war. He needs to learn all the elements before the comet returns and the current Fire Lord, Ozai uses it to destroy something else.”

Naruko was confused. Their grief seemed real, but what history was this? “I'm sorry for your loss, Aang, but I’m a little confused. None of this has happened before. Did I fall off of Turtle Island somewhere?”

Aang frowned. “I don’t know about a Turtle Island. Naruko, what’s the last thing you remember?”

She frowned. “I was training at the Waterfall of Truth and this copy showed up. We were fighting, our Rasengan clashed and I was thrown back into the waterfall and I felt like I...fell through something? I remember some pain, sounds like animals screaming all around me, and then I blacked out.”

Aang frowned, not fully understanding what she was saying. He looked over at Sokka and Katara and they shared his confusion. If he was understanding her correctly, she didn’t know she had most likely come from somewhere else, possible another world. Aang wondered if this was what Katara felt when she realized she had to tell him about the Fire Nation when he first woke up. He could kind of understand her thought process though. It was easier for them to believe she was from the Spirit World, or even another one that could have been connected to it, because they had seen her appear from nowhere. She had been unconscious and didn’t know what had happened.

“Hey Sokka, do you have a map?” Aang asked. Sokka looked at the girl with sympathy, but reached for his bag to hand their map over to Aang, who opened it and showed it to Naruko. “Naruko, this is our world. These are the Four Nations - the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Water Tribes, and Air Temples.”

Naruko frowned, eyes flickering over the map. “None of this is right.”

Aang swallowed the lump in his throat. “Naruko, as the Avatar, I have a connection to the Spirit World. It’s kind of an entirely separate world that connected to ours. Spirits can sometimes come over to our world, and people can be taken to the Spirit World. When you first showed up, I felt something from the Spirit World. I think you were somehow pulled into it, and you came to ours.”

Naruko stared at him, her eyes wide and mouth gaping. “So your bending isn’t just some fancy new jutsu to manipulate your chakra nature?”

Aang shook his head. “I don’t know what jutsu are, and while I’ve heard of chakra, I don’t think we mean the same thing. Naruko, I think you’re from a different world than ours.”

She fell silent, blue eyes blank with shock. She stared at him until Aang couldn’t help but shift nervously. She looked down at the map he was still holding, and he could see her eyes tracing the new shapes of the continents.

Katara felt for her. Any hostile feelings or wariness vanishing at the look on the older girls face. “Naruko, you called your home the Elemental Countries, what's it like?”

She started speaking, and her voice was monotone, still in shock. “Where I'm from there are ninja villages and each village is in a different country. I'm from the Leaf village in Fire Country but there are other main countries like Wind, Rock, Lightning, and Water. There are also minor ones like Rice, Sound, Rain, and Iron. The ninja in each country tend to use jutsu involving the element of their country but ninja can have more than one elemental chakra.”

“Wait, are you saying you're a ninja? And what's jutsu and chakra?” Sokka asked.

Naruko nodded, eyes clearing as she pushed through her shock. “Yes, I am a ninja and jutsu are the name of some of the techniques we can use and chakra is like our energy source and powers our abilities. There are elements to our chakra, too. We have wind, fire, lightning, earth, and water natures to our chakra. I'm a wind nature. Some people can combine two elements and make a secondary one like wood or ice but it's really hard to do.”

Everyone looked shocked at the knowledge that people could at least manipulate more than one element and even combine them. Sokka was even more curious. “It’s not something you’re born with?”

Naruko shook her head. “Everyone has chakra. Ninja go through training from the age of five or six to learn how to unlock their chakra, and train their bodies to use it. As long as you train hard, even someone from a civilian family can use jutsu.”

“What other kind of abilities do you have?” Toph asked eagerly.

“Well I can walk on water, trees, walls, and I can make clones of myself-”

 “Show us! Please!”

Naruko smiled at Toph's eagerness and could see it mirrored in her companions faces. She decided she would deal with the whole other world thing later. “Okay, hold on a second.”

They watched as she brought her hands together in a cross before saying “Kage Bunshin no jutsu!” Smoke surrounded them on all sides and when it cleared, their jaws dropped as around twenty replicas of Naruko appeared. Sokka jumped up and poked one of them and jumped back as his hand touched it.

 “They're real!” He said in disbelief.

 Toph smiled deviously. “How many can you make?”

 The original, or the one they assumed to be the original since she was the only one to move, put her hand on her chin. “Um, the largest I've made is a few hundred but I've never actually tested how many I can actually make.” Naruko answered, enjoying the shocked look on their faces as she dispelled the clones.

 “You're your own personal army!” Sokka said as he fell back down in shock.

 Naruko shrugged and stood up to walk to one of the pillars. “I guess. Now I'll show you what else chakra can do.” With that, she walked straight to one of the pillars and without breaking stride, went straight up the side and even onto the ceiling above them. Looking down at them, she laughed out loud at their faces. It was just too funny seeing someone who, for once, didn't know what a ninja could do. Stopping the flow of chakra, Naruko flipped and landed back on the ground. “You might want to close your mouths before you catch a fly.”

 Toph shut her mouth and whooped. “You and I are going to get along great!”

 “Thanks, I-” Naruko's eyes suddenly narrowed. She and Toph turned at the same time to face Appa. Naruko's voice went cold. “I know your there. Come out.”

 Appa suddenly moved to reveal a boy around Naru's age with shaggy black hair a little past his ears, amber colored eyes and a scar on one side of his face, dressed in red and black clothes. Naruko was slightly shocked at the venomous reactions of her new companions as they all got in battle stance with their arms ready to bend at a moments notice.

 “What are you doing here, Zuko?”


	2. Chapter 2

Naruko didn’t know what to do. If the kids in front of her were to be believed, she was in an entirely new world, and her head hurt too much to try to wrap her head around the  _ how _ . She had no idea how to even begin trying to figure it out, and was instead focusing on what she could deal with. Mainly, the people of this new world. 

She had already decided that she would help them, though from what she understood about their fight so far, she really didn’t understand the hostility to this new guy. He looked about her age, had black shaggy hair that went past his ears, and amber eyes. His left eye was scarred by an old burn.

This newcomer - Zuko, if she heard right - was wearing a red short sleeve shirt and red pants tucked into black boots. He was wearing some kind of outer coat on top of his shirt and pants that was a darker red. His eyes cautiously moved over everyone, pausing over her. She saw the confusion flash through his eyes before looked back at the others. He gave an awkward smile and waved.

“Hello, Zuko here.” Zuko ignored the others hostile movements, each of them shifting into fighting stances or changing their grip on their weapons, and continued speaking. “Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so I just thought I'd wait for you here.”

There was a small silence before the big fluffy bison stepped up to Zuko, roared, and then licked him from toe to head. She turned to look at the others, trying to figure out how to react to this guy and saw Aang relaxing his stance in shock. She turned back to Zuko, watching his posture and eyes for any hints of lies. He was wiping drool off his face and she couldn’t keep her lips from twitching as she tried not to laugh. It was funny when this kind of thing happened to others instead of her.

 “I know you must be surprised to see me here.”

 Sokka took a small step forward, weapon raised. “Not really, since you followed us all over the world.” 

Naruko looked him over. He must have been a pretty good tracker, since they must have traveled by air the majority of their trip. It did explain their hostility, if he was hunting them, and by the color of his clothing compared to the others, she’d guess he was a firebender. The different bending nations seemed to dress according to their element, which would be easier for her.

Zuko glanced to the side with a grimace. “Right... Well, uh... Anyway,” Zuko closed his eyes and straightened his posture before looking right at them. “What I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed and I, uh, I'm good now. And, well, I think I should join your group. Oh, and I can teach fire bending... to you.” Naruko saw the honesty in his eyes and the regret and knew he was telling the truth, but he seemed very awkward when it came to actually talking. “See, I, uh...”

Toph interrupted. “You want to what now?”

Katara was more venomous in her reply, which shook Naruko. The other girl had been very sweet and sincere to her and it was disconcerting seeing her so venomous. “You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?”

“Yeah, all you've ever done is try to hunt us down and capture Aang.”

“I've done some good things.” Zuko tried to defend himself. “I mean, I could've stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something.”

Trying to get a word in, Naruko spoke up. “I believe him.” Everyone turned to face her, most having seemed to have forgotten she was there. “Look, I know we just met a few minutes ago and my opinion probably doesn't mean much to you, but you are letting you're hatred and bitterness cloud your judgment. You need a firebending teacher, can't figure out anyone who can do it, and he walks right up to you offering it! You don't have to trust him. Trust is not something given right away. It is earned through actions. Did any of you trust each other completely when you first met?.”

Silence fell after her statement and Naruko could see Zuko looking back and forth between them all. When it seemed like no one would say anything, Zuko spoke again.

“I can understand why you don't trust me, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to earn it. I know I've made some mistakes in the past.” By the way everyone shifted or tensed, Naruko knew his words brought forth a rush of bad memories for the others. 

Sokka snapped first. “Like when you attacked our village?”

“Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?” Katara spat. Naruko eyed her. She definitely would be the hardest to sway, there was something more, something personal she had against Zuko.

Zuko tangled his fingers in his hair, grimacing at the reminders of his past.“Look, I admit I've done some awful things. I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the water tribe. And I never should've sent that fire nation assassin after you. I'm going to try and stop him.”

Naruko choked, not having expected that, while Sokka exploded, pointing an accusing hand at Zuko. “Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?”

Zuko looked up, eyes wide, realizing his mistake. “Well, that's not his name, but...”

Sokka moved from anger to sarcasm. “Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to insult your friend.”

For the first time since he arrived, she saw Zuko get angry. “He's not my friend.”

Toph pointed her hand at Zuko accusingly. “That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up!”

Zuko seemed to deflate. He turned to Aang, who had been silently watching the exchange. “Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me.”

Aang was frowning at the ground. Naruko watched him, knowing his opinion would be the one that mattered most. Aang looked over to the others and Sokka shook his head, and he turned back to Zuko, firm with resolve. “There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us.”

Naruko frowned, not understanding why they wouldn't give him a chance. He was sincere about trying to change, and they desperately needed his help to teach Aang. 

Zuko's eyes widened in shock and hurt.

Katara took a small step forward, her hands ready to bend the water from the pouch on her hip. “You need to get out of here. Now.”

Zuko closed his eyes before his face crumpled in frustration. He took a step forward, stopping when everyone tensed further. Naruko frowned at them. Could they not see he was genuine? That he sincerely wanted to help them? “I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!”

Zuko took a few steps forward and Sokka swung the arm with his boomerang at him. “Either you leave or we attack.”

Zuko stopped. “If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner.” Zuko knelt on the ground, bowed his head, and held his wrists up. Naruko knew how hard swallowing pride could be, and was impressed by the lengths this boy was going to to show them he had changed.

“No, we won't!” Naruko made a halting step forward when Katara started bending water at him.  Zuko flew onto his back, soaked. “Get out of here and don't come back. And if we ever see you again... Well, we'd better not see you again.”

While they were all distracted, Naruko slipped away. She remembered that Toph could feel vibrations and know where people were and hoped she was too distracted to notice or that she wouldn't say anything. Zuko got up and walked away, the others glaring at his back. She noticed Aang look down at the ground with a confused look on his face and knew if she could convince Aang, or if Zuko could plead his case to him alone, Zuko might still have a slim chance. Until she could figure things out, she was here, and she was going to help these kids. They were greatly outnumbered in this war they were in, and Zuko was just the asset they needed.

She followed Zuko out of the ravine and into the woods about a thirty minutes hike from the ravine. The sun was just beginning to set by the time Zuko arrived at his makeshift camp. It was more like a tarp tied up between some trees. She settled in the trees and watched him for a while, observing him when he thought no one was looking.

Zuko threw his hands into his hair and groaned. “I can't believe how stupid I am! I mean, what was I thinking? Telling them I sent an assassin after them? Why didn't I just say Azula did that? They would have believed that. Stupid!”

He seemed to be yelling at something and she had to shift her head to see what he was looking at. She didn’t know how to react at the sight of a weird frog... thing sitting on a log. It looked like a mix between a badger and a frog. The frog just croaked and Zuko groaned again before falling to his knees.

She actually felt bad, but also amused. The situation was serious, she knew that, but his lack of social skills made her feel better about her own. She decided now was as good a time as any and cleared her throat loudly. At the sound, Zuko stood up and shifted into a fighting stance. When she jumped down from the tree and he saw her, he relaxed his arms but didn't drop his guard. He wasn’t attacking, most likely because she had been with the others and stood up for him, but he was eyeing her carefully, tracking the distance between the tree and the ground.

“Zuko, right? You know talking to yourself is a sign of insanity?”

Zuko glared a little. “What's your name?”

“Naruko.”

“What are you doing here? They already refused to let me join their group.”

She huffed, casting a glare behind her. “Yeah and frankly, it pissed me off that they ignored what both of us said. Anyways, I came here to talk. They are being stupid and they do need you. I'm here to try and help.”

 Zuko finally stood up straight. “I appreciate what you did back there, in any case. What did you mean, though, when you said you had only known them for a few minutes?”

 Naruko sighed, already resigning herself to repeating her strange situation to what would probably be more people later down the line. “Can we sit down? It's kind of a very confusing story.” Zuko nodded and they sat down on opposite sides of the empty fire pit. Zuko flicked his wrist and a small spark shot to life on the branches and soon a small fire was going, lighting up the darkening camp site. She caught herself staring at Zuko's hands in fascination before realizing he was staring at her. She scratched her cheek, suddenly shy. “Sorry, it's just fascinating seeing your abilities. You don’t need a source like Katara or Toph do when you bend.”

 Zuko glanced at his hands, turning them over before he frowned. “What do you mean? Have you not seen bending before?”

She shrugged. “Aang and Katara's theory is that I come from another world. I'm inclined to believe them since nothing here is like it is where I come from. While people where I come from can control elements to a certain extent, no one can do what you guys do here. Plus people can learn more than one element.”

 Zuko looked interested at that. “So there are multiple avatars?”

 She shook her head, wondering he believed her so easily. “No, we don't have anything like that. My world is a shinobi world. This symbol on my headband is the symbol for my village. It's called Konoha and it's a ninja village. There are lots of other villages too, but every shinobi can only use elements in our techniques if we use hand signs to channel our chakra, The hand signs act as a focal point and help us direct our chakra how we want it. But we can use other techniques besides the elemental stuff.” Naruko henged into Iruka to show him, inwardly grinning at the shocked look on his face. They were all as fascinated with her as she was with them.

When she released the henge Zuko was staring. “So how did you get here, then?”

Naruko looked at the fire, picking at a loose thread on her clothes as she remembered that weird reflection she fought. “The last thing I remember was training. There is a war going on in my world, too, and they were trying to keep me out of it.” Naruko debated for a quick second on whether to tell him about the fox, but she didn’t know how he would react to a demon. “I was...just starting a new type of training to control my chakra when things went wrong. I’m not sure what exactly happened all I remember is feeling like I was falling through something, and things were tearing and clawing at me before I woke up here. Apparently, I appeared in the middle of the sky, right in front of them as they were flying by.”

 Zuko raised an eyebrow. “You're really lucky.”

 She grinned. “That's what everyone says whenever I gamble. For some reason, I never lose.” Zuko shook his head. “Anyways, can you tell me about your past with the others so I can start to understand why they hate you?”

 Zuko's shoulders slumped and his head dropped into his hands. Naruko cringed, maybe she could have stated that more delicately. She gave him a moment to gather his thoughts and he sighed before straightening back up.

 “I am - or was, I guess - the prince of the Fire Nation. A few years ago I disagreed with my father about his plans for the war, and after I refused to fight him in an Agni Kai, he burned me and banished me. He said I could only return if I captured the Avatar. I thought I needed to do that to regain my honor and go home so I spent years searching. I found Aang a few months ago in the South Pole at Katara's and Sokka's village. I attacked and Aang agreed to come with me if I spared the village. He did and he ended up escaping when Katara and Sokka came after him. After that I chased them all over the world. I would fight them, kidnap them, and bargain with whoever I could in order to get them.

 “In the city Ba Sing Se, Katara and I were imprisoned in some crystal catacombs under the city by my sister Azula. We talked for awhile, since we were trapped there, and she started to trust me, but when Azula came she convinced me to join her. I betrayed her and my uncle.”

 Zuko finished speaking what she knew was a very sugar coated story. Naruko was inwardly seething at the idea of Zuko’s father and sister scaring and imprisoning him. She knew families weren’t perfect - hell, just look at Sasuke - but family was supposed to love each other. She could see that he regretted everything he had done and what it must have cost him to turn against his family to join Aang and the others. She sighed. “This is a really big mess.”

 Zuko gave a cynical laugh. “Tell me something I don't know.”

 She could see hopelessness weighing his shoulders down. “Hey,” she said softly. When he met her eyes, she continued. “What you've done by doing this, the effort and courage it took to get here... Not many people are strong enough to do that. Family is still your family, no matter how messed up it can be, and yet you are here, trying to join your enemy to do what is right, not what is easy.”

 Zuko’s amber eyes seared into her, warm and bright, reflecting the light of the fire. “You sound like my uncle.”

She cocked her head a little at the change in tone. At least it seemed Zuko had one positive member of his family, though she felt like there was something weighing on him about his uncle. He said his name with such longing and love.  “I'll take that as a compliment, Prince Zuko,” Naruko said, stressing his title. She may not care for royalty and politics, but she could tell that it was important to him.

 Zuko looked shocked. “It was one, and you don’t need to call me that.”

 Naruko nodded, though she knew she would ignore him. She looked around, noticing that the sun was just slipping past the horizon and the sky was mostly dark. “I'm going to head back and see what I can do over there.”

 Zuko looked at the sky and nodded. “Thank you for your help.”

 “No problem.” She stood and stretched her legs. She didn’t look back, trying to look confident enough to give him some hope. She knew she had a way with words, but the others didn’t know her, she didn’t know them, and there was a lot of bad blood she had to try to talk them through.

When she was out of sight and ear shot she stopped, sagging against a nearby tree.  Everything had been an excellent distraction, but she was alone now, and everything was catching up to her all at once. Her body was screaming at her, all the visible damage gone like always, but whatever had happened had left a deep mark. Her failed encounter with her dark self, her lack of information on what happened to her, or what was happening back home, it had all been building in the back of her mind since she woke up. She could feel frustrated tears building behind her eyes and clenched them shut. She brought her fist to her mouth and bit into her flesh and screamed, the sound muffled as her teeth dug grooves in her hand until she tasted blood.

Once she ran out of breath she lowered her hand, wiping the blood on her shorts before scrubbing at her face. She took a deep breath, smacking her cheeks lightly a few times, while she calmed herself down. She couldn’t let that happen again, she had to stay focused on what was happening around her, she could figure out the rest along the way. She started walking again, making her way back to the temple.

Everyone was gone by the time she found the courtyard again, and Naruko was tired enough that she collapsed in the first empty bedroom she found, determined to start with the others in the morning.

 

_ XxX _

 

For some reason, the stale air and the steady drip of the seal didn’t surprise her when she opened her eyes. Kyuubi was growling and his tails were thrashing behind him, his red eyes burning her like his chakra. 

“What do you want? I’m too tired to deal with you right now.” She didn’t intentionally come here, and she wasn’t in any life threatening danger sleeping on a bed, so the fox must have pulled her here himself. ǐ

**“You,”** he snarled, fur bristling,  **“are the stupidest human I have ever had the misfortune to meet! Do you have any idea what you've done?”**

She stared at the furious demon in front of her, absently wondering when she stopped being scared of him. “So it’s true then? I’m somehow in a different world?”

Kyuubi's eyes grew more intense, boring into her. **“Of all of the possible places you could have ended up, it had to be here,”** the fox hissed.  **“How did I end up stuck in the most incompetent human of all time? You have the worst luck I have ever seen.”**

“Some say otherwise,” she scoffed. Some as recently as an hour ago.

**“Well, those some are fools. You somehow managed to bungle your training so badly, you created a rip to the Spirit World! If I hadn’t been sealed inside you, you would be dead, you brat!”** The fox banged his paw hard against the bars. She figured if he had the room, he would be pacing. Or he would have killed her.

“So you know what happened?” 

He took a slow breath and released it, the hot air blowing her hair and clothes out behind her.  **“You forced open a rift to the Spirit World in your foolish efforts to face your own Inner Spirit. This world has a stronger connection to that place because of the Avatar, and I managed to force the rip to connect to him to get you out of there. The spirits didn’t exactly appreciate your entry and would have torn you to pieces without me!”**

Naruko vaguely remembered seeing strange shadows when she was facing her other self, and after breaking or falling through the waterfall, she remembered eyes, and claws, and darkness. She had a faint recollection of the fox’s chakra surging through her, surrounding her in golden fire, before she broke through another barrier. The memory was fuzzy, becoming more unclear the more she tried to make sense of it, but she remembered the light and warmth, along with the familiar burn of his chakra.

“How do you know so much?”

**“Do I have to spell it out for you, you idiot girl? I am a fox** **_spirit_ ** **, you fell into the Spirit World, that shares connections to all kinds of places with strong Spiritual energies,”** the fox paused, looking at her uncomprehending face.  **“Sage how do you survive? The bijuu? We all come from the spirit world, and we were called to your world by the Sage and imbued with specific chakra. The summoning animals are descendants from spirits.”**

“Oh, you’re from that place?”

**“How to get it through your thick skull?”** The fox grumbled to himself. Frankly, Naruko was shocked he was willing to offer information that would actually help her. **“Think of the Spirit World like the soup in your damn ramen. Your world and this one are each their own separate ingredient, but the Spirit world fills in all the empty space between them and connects them. That island was a place where the barrier between worlds was thin, and you broke through the rest of the way.”**

Naruko couldn’t hold back a grin at the metaphor the fox used, and how put out he looked at having to use it, but she actually understood a little. “So then why’d you bring us here instead of back through?”

**“This world has a stronger connection to the Spirit World because of the Avatar, He is a focal point, a bridge between the two worlds. The barriers are thinner here, and it took less effort to bring you here instead of taking you back.”**

She sighed and raked her hands through her hair. “Do you know any way to get back?”

The fox went silent. It was a few minutes before she looked up, curious at his silence, only to see that he had...relaxed? His ruffled fur, snarling grin, and thrashing tails had all calmed and instead he was staring at her, his head cocked. Her brow furrowed, trying to understand the fox’s whiplash moods this time were making her head hurt.

**“Learn.”**

She groaned. “Learn  _ what?” _

**"Learn about the originals, the spirits, the bridge between worlds, how they are all connected, you little idiot!"**  She felt the familiar burn as the fox forced chakra through the seal. Her vision was consumed with golden flames, burning blood red in the center and she woke up. The light didn’t vanish when she opened her eyes, her room illuminated by warm, bright wisps of chakra before they flickered out like lights, leaving her room in darkness. She lay in her bed, simply blinking. 

That was definitely the strangest interaction she had had with the fox. And his chakra was acting differently here. It wasn’t the normal blood red she was used to. It was gold, not yellow, but still burned red at its center. She lifted her hand and could just barely see it in front of her face. She still felt the burning itch of his chakra, but it was also warmer, a soothing warmth.  It reminded her of fire.

 

_ XxX _

 

She woke up with the sun. Her room was still dark, only faint grey light coming through. She supposed it made sense, since they were inside a ravine, by the time the sunlight would reach her room, it would be midday. She stood up and stretched, fixing her rumpled clothes and tying her headband on her forehead. Her hair was a lost cause that she simply tied up out of the way. Finally ready, she left in search of the others, ready to start trying to convince them to let Zuko join them. 

She very quickly became lost. She hadn’t been shown around yesterday, and had simply claimed a random room without paying attention to where it was. She wandered until she heard faint voices and followed the sound to the courtyard from yesterday, where everyone was currently gathered and in varying stages of waking up. Along with Katara, Sokka, and Aang were three boys she didn't know. One was in a wheelchair, the other was a little kid, maybe twelve, and the other around her age. All were wearing different shades of green so she guessed they came from the Earth Kingdom. And all of them were at least two buildings away from where she was standing.

This place was a maze of confusion. It was built on the underside of a mountain cliff, and the buildings all looked like they were built upside down, but that wasn’t the case at all. There were paths and tunnels all through the buildings and along the cliff face that connected all of the buildings that she would easily get lost in if she tried to navigate on her own. With that in mind, she focused chakra to her feet and started jumping over along the buildings. Katara’s voice became clear as she landed on the section of ceiling above them.

“-anyone seen Toph? Or Naruko?” 

 “I'm here.” She said, jumping down from the ceiling. Everyone either screamed or jumped and she grinned. She could see a lot of opportunities for future tricks. The civilians back in Konoha were so used to shinobi that not much fazed them, but these kids don’t know anything about shinobi and that opened up a lot of doors for her. 

 Sokka was looking up at the ceiling and back at her. “How the...What the...How?”

 She tapped the side of her headband proudly displayed on her forehead. “Ninja, remember?”

 Sokka just blinked. Katara handed her a bowl of food and she nodded in thanks while she found a spot to sit. She sipped at the bowl, unsure what exactly it was, and glanced at the other boys. “So who are you three?”

 The brown haired teen with a mustache spoke up first. “I'm Haru.”

“I'm The Duke. Don't forget the 'The'!” the kid piped up around a mouthful.

 The kid in the chair spoke up last, adjusting some goggles on his head. “I'm Teo.”

 “Naruko Uzumaki, nice to meet you,” she said with a nod at all of them. She wondered if they had family names, she had never heard anyone introduce themselves with a full name. She had held onto her name for her entire life, and she wondered if that was different here.

“So where did you go yesterday?” Katara asked. Naruko eyed her, but the tone was light and she didn’t seem suspicious.

“After that whole mess with Zuko, I was angry, so I took a walk around, got tired, found a room, and went to sleep. When I woke up I got lost trying to find my way back here.” It was all true. Just a little omission that her walk went around to where Zuko is but they didn't need to know that. “What's this about Toph?”

Aang sighed. “After Zuko and you left, she got angry at us about how we ignored the offer of a firebending teacher when he walked right up to us and stormed off.”

Naruko frowned. She didn’t know them well enough to guess what they might do, but Toph seemed to have reacted the same way she did. Would the girl have gone to talk to Zuko to try to figure something out like she had? She didn’t remember seeing her when she left last night, but she was distracted with her brief breakdown. Toph could have easily slipped by her, but Zuko didn’t react well to people. Even after she had given a warning that she was there, Zuko’s instincts had him defensive when he was surprised. He had the same instincts to attack a surprise that she did, without her ability to sense who was around her. If Toph didn’t announce herself and be cautious when approaching him, especially at night, she could have gotten hurt.

 The other teen, Haru, spoke up. “Maybe she went to explore the air temple. There are some pretty fun spots to practice earthbending.”

 Katara frowned. “I think we should go look for her.”

 Sokka sat down, cradling his own food close. “Oh, let her have fun with her rocks. I'm in no rush to have her yelling at us again.”

The Duke and Teo offered to go look in the tunnels, in case Toph was exploring, and Haru went with them. They didn’t seem too worried, and Aang and the others stayed in the courtyard eating breakfast and relaxing. Naruko followed their lead, they knew their teammate best after all.

She was just starting to relax when she felt the ground rumbling beneath her. Naruko looked up, seeing the others look around as they felt it. Before she could stretch out her chakra to figure out what was going on, a wall exploded and Toph came tumbling out, crawling on her stomach. Naruko bolted over to her, noticing the shiny red skin of Toph’s feet. Naruko grit her teeth, but grabbed hold of the girl as Katara and the others rushed over.

 “Toph, what happened?”

Naruko shifted Toph around until she had an arm braced behind her back and under her knees. Toph wrapped an arm around her neck and held herself stiff as she tried to keep anything from touching her feet as Naruko stood up.. “My feet got burned.”

 Aang and Sokka hovered at her side while Katara walked backwards, examining Toph’s feet as Naruko took her to the fountain.  “Oh, no, what happened?”

“I just told you, my feet got burned.” Naruko couldn’t stop a small smile. Even burned, and if Naruko understood her right, completely blind from her sense ability, the girl still sassed Katara.

Katara humphed. “I meant how.”

“Well,” Toph hesitated, and Naruko mentally braced herself as she set the girl down on the edge of the fountain, “I kind of went to see Zuko last night.”

 “You what?” Aang exploded.

 “Zuko?” Katara gasped. Sokka was too shocked to form words, simply making a sound of protest. 

 “I just thought he could be helpful to us, and if I talked to him, maybe we could work something out,” she tried to explain. Katara started bending some water from the fountain around her hands and placed them over Toph’s feet. Naruko watched in fascination as the water covered Toph’s burned feet and started glowing a soft blue.  

 “So he attacked you?!”

Toph hunched, shoulders meeting her ears.  “Well he did, and he didn't. It was sort of an accident, I surprised him.”

 “But he did fire bend at you?” Aang pressed.

 Toph sighed. “Yes.”

 Sokka put his hands on his hips. “See, you trusted Zuko and you got burned... Literally!”

 Katara pursed her lips and pulled the water away. “It's going to take a while for your feet to get better. I wish I could have worked on them sooner.”

 “Me too.”

 “Wait,” She said, rolling up her sleeve.  “I have some burn medicine.”

 Sokka stared at her as she revealed the mark on her forearm, a simple kanji for ‘seal’. “Uh...that’s just a tattoo, you know that right?”

 “You know I'm not of this world, right?” She shot back at him. It was something Jiraiya had taught her after she had gotten caught in a fight and not had her stuff with her. She had a sealing scroll with extra necessities and weapons sealed into the mark on her arm, instead of keeping a pack on her. She didn’t have an actual tattoo like Jiraiya did, but she could infuse chakra into ink and reapply it when she needed to reseal the scroll away.

The others jumped at the small poof of smoke and the appearance of the scroll, and watched attentively as she opened it until she reached the seal where medicine was stored. She deactivated the seal and multiple jars of medicine appeared. Between Sakura and Hinata, she had herbal remedies and actual medicine, all chosen for its long shelf life. She found the burn cream and handed it off to a wide-eyed Katara.

 Toph reached out and hugged her arm. “Thanks.”

Satisfied that Toph was taken care of, Sokka started pacing. “Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're going to have to go after him.”

 Aang looked down. “I hate to go looking for a fight but you're right. After what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice.”

“He's crafty, but we'll find a way to capture him.”

 Naruko’s eyes widened when Toph contributed. “Maybe just invite him back here. He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once.”

 Sokka tapped his chin. “Yeah... Get him to come back and say he'll be our prisoner then we'll jump him and really make him our prisoner. He'll never suspect it.”

“Hey!” Naruko finally snapped, making all the others jump. “I get it, I’m new here, I don’t know anything about your war here, but from what I’ve seen, you all don’t like surprises. Toph, did Zuko firebend at you because you snuck up on him?”

“Yes,” the girl answered, “he was sleeping.”

“What does that have to do with - “

Naruko cut Katara off. “He was sleeping. When I woke up and was surprised by you guys, I held a kunai to Sokka’s throat. Try to understand for just a minute! Zuko had just been attacked,” she gave a pointed look at Katara, “and from what I understand, is on the run from not just his family, but basically the entire world! He’s on edge, probably terrified, and in the middle of the night he was snuck up on. I would have attacked and I’m pretty sure any of you would have in a similar situation. Now you’re planning to attack him - a guy who surrendered to you, whose only crime is defending himself when he is alone and surrounded by enemies! Is this how you treat the people that come to you offering their help for no cost?”

Naruko was glad that at least Aang, Toph, and Sokka looked affected by her words, Aang most especially. Katara on the other hand…

“You’re right, you don’t know anything about what’s going on here, so  _ stay out of it, _ ” she snapped, blue eyes cold.

Naruko was getting ready to rise to her unspoken challenge when Aang stepped forward in between them. “No, Katara, she’s right.” 

The courtyard exploded before Katara could argue back. Naruko ducked to grab Toph, pulling her away from the fountain as part of it blew to pieces. Naruko covered the younger girl with her body as the other’s jumped out of the way. 

 “Stop!” Zuko yelled from above them. Still covering Toph, she looked up to see Zuko trying to get in the way of a bald guy with a metal arm and leg and a tattoo of an eye on his forehead. The man’s eyes were fixed on Aang, completely ignoring Zuko. “I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore. The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop!”

 The guy just grabbed Zuko's head and shoved him aside while releasing the next blast. Naruko grabbed Toph and jumped away as the top of the fountain exploded, the others taking cover below and then running to meet her behind a corner where she sat Toph down. Naruko stood at the edge of the wall, watching Zuko confront the man.

 Zuko ran forward with his fist drawn back, fire forming around it. “If you keep attacking, I won't pay you.” He didn't even look at Zuko as he grabbed his shirt and stopped him, simply holding him at arm’s length. Zuko fought against the grip, trying to twist free and Naruko held up her hand to  wordlessly summon a clone. “All right, I'll pay you double to stop!” Zuko managed to twist himself up to kick off against the guy, knocking his next blast off course again.

Naruko acted fast as soon as the Rasengan was formed, ignoring the others behind her as she charged forward with Chakra enhanced speed. Zuko’s interference had mad this guy mad and he had turned his attention to him. Zuko managed to turn and cover himself with a shield of fire just as the guy attacked but was blown back until he fell off the ledge of the building. Naruko reached him before the smoke cleared, slamming the Ransegan into the man’s back with a yell. She heard a choked off yell, and then the Rasengan twisted into his back and blew him away, out into the ravine where he fell into the mist.

“Zuko!” Naruko didn’t wait, running forward to the ledge and looking over to see Zuko clinging to a root, looking back into the ravine where the assassin fell. At her yell, he looked up, his unscarred eye wide.

“Another world, huh?” he said shakily. 

She laughed, kneeling down to help pull him up. “Yeah, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it too.” Both of them caught their breath and then Naruko looked back down to the rubble-strewn courtyard where the other’s were staring up at them, Toph supported between Sokka and Aang while Katara glared up at them from in front. Zuko followed here eyes and grimaced. Naruko pat his shoulder in sympathy. “Ready?”

 “No,” He sighed. “But I have to.”

“Can you make the distance jumps?” she asked. At Zuko’s curious look she simply gestured at him and around them. “It’s just, you guys don’t have the training with chakra that I do that lets me go faster, stick to any surface, or enhance your jumps, but at the same time I’ve seen you guys be incredibly agile. I’m just not sure where the line is.”

Zuko nodded. “I think I understand. You got up here very quickly, I don’t really remember seeing you move, and there’s no easy path. Can you take me down?”

From the gleam in his eyes, Naruko knew he could have found his own way, but he wanted to see what she could do first hand. She reached out a hand and Zuko took it with no hesitation. “What I’m getting ready to do is a shunshin - or body flicker. Just as a warning, it feels kind of weird at first.”

Between one breath and the next Naruko got them both to the courtyard in front of the others. They kids all jumped, at their sudden appearance, and Zuko swayed on his feet before groaning. Naruko braced him with one arm while looking at the others. It may be a bad idea to be so obviously supportive of Zuko, but she wasn’t going to stand by and let them attack him again, not after almost getting blown off the edge in an effort to save their lives. It was Katara who still looked the most hostile, the others were wary but looked more shocked and unsure.

Zuko straightened up and tapped her arm. She looked up at him and he gave her a weak smile. She let go and let him walk forward to face them on his own, but she didn’t move to go stand with the others.

 Aang stepped forward when Zuko stopped. “I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks, Zuko. You too, Naruko.” 

 Naruko smiled at the boy in acknowledgement but let Zuko confront them. He needed to do this. When he spoke, his voice was steady and more confident than the stumbling attempt he had made the other day. “Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday. I've been through a lot in the past few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what's right, and not just what’s easy, or by doing what you think others want of you. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world.” Aang's face visibly softened.

Zuko turned to Toph and bowed. “I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident, but that is no excuse. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending so I don't hurt people unintentionally.”

“It’s okay, Zuko,” Toph said, sitting back on the edge of the fountain. “Naruko already yelled at us when we were planning to attack you for burning me. We all have bad reactions to being surprised, especially at night when you’re not expecting it. I appreciate your apology, as long as you make sure you learn to control it. I also apologize to you for scaring you last night.” 

Naruko blinked at the almost proper response from the young girl. All Naruko had heard from her was usually sass and sarcasm, but that was a very formal way of speaking she just showed. 

Zuko turned to look at her with a curious look on her face and she just shrugged and he turned back to the others. “Thank you. And I will. I’ve always been quick to react, and have always had a bit of a temper, but I will learn to control my reactions so I don’t hurt people.”

 Naruko was watching Aang again, and saw when he realized Zuko’s sincerity.  “I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara.” Both Aang and Katara flinched, and Katara rubbed her hands together. “After that, I never wanted to fire bend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love.” Aang straightened his spine and bowed at the waist to Zuko. “I'd like you to teach me.”

 Zuko returned the bow and Naruko heard how happy he was when he responded. “Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group.”

 Aang quickly held up a hand. “Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph, you're the one Zuko burned. What do you think?”

 Toph shrugged. “Go ahead and let him join.” She grinned and punched her hand. “It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet.” Naruko cocked her head, curious at how Toph grew up. Gone was the formal way of speaking, and now she was acting like the rough and playful girl Naruko had started to get to know.

 “Sokka?”

 Sokka looked at Zuko before shrugging. “Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then I'm all for it.”

 “Katara?”

 Naruko looked at the younger girl carefully. She was visibly unhappy, body pulled taught like a bow, but Naruko hoped she could let go of her anger. The waterbender sighed and nodded. “I'll go along with whatever you think is right.”

Aang’s grey eyes actually looked at me, but I simple moved forward to stand beside Zuko. Aang nodded and Naruko could see the smile on Zuko’s face. “I won't let you down, I promise.”

Naruko was actually surprised when, instead of watching Zuko and telling him what to do next, they all just walked away, leaving them alone. She could see that he was affected by it and laid a hand on his arm. “Hey, your things are back at your camp right? I’ll walk with you and show you where some rooms are if you want?’

Zuko looked grateful. “Sure, thanks. But why didn’t you..” he waved vaguely in the direction the others went.

She grimaced, hands on her hips. “Well, on top of only really knowing them for a little over a day? I have kind of firmly placed myself on your side, and Katara and I were about to get into it when whats-his-face attacked.”

Zuko started walking, and Naruko followed him, knowing she would just get lost. He seemed to know his way around here, she would just get lost again. “About that, what did Toph mean earlier?”

“In my world, we train from a young age and go out on missions where attacking first and asking questions later is normal. From the moment we graduate and go on missions, we start to get used to always being on guard, ready to be attacked, and those instincts become normal for us,” Naruko idly kicked a stone out of her path, not looking at Zuko’s face. She was proud to be a shinobi, proud of her way of life, but she knew outsiders and civilians saw child soldiers, put through too much at a young age. “Since I arrived here, I’ve been watching all of you, and you are all so young, fighting a war, and you have the instincts that I do when surprised, but you don’t have my training. It doesn’t help that you guys are constantly on the move or on the run, you’ve learned to react to surprises by defending yourselves. The only difference between you guys and me, is I’ve had years of training to know how to restrain myself when attacking. When I heard them talking about attacking you for reacting on instinct, I got angry, and let them know that I was.”

Zuko didn’t say anything after she finished. For awhile, they walked in silence, going up through tunnels and stairs. She snuck a peak at his face, and he was frowning, brow furrowed, and eyes staring straight ahead. Instead of barging on and babbling, Naruko let him think, walking beside him as they reached the woods.

“When I was younger,” Naruko jumped when Zuko spoke, but aside from giving her a sideways glance, he continued, “I remember I would see some of the soldiers who were too wounded to still fight. Some would jump at the slightest sound. I was in the market with my mother once, and a cart was knocked over, and this man just started attacking, bending at anyone who would get near.”

She nodded. “I’ve seen shinobi react in similar ways when caught off guard, even when they were home. And none of you have somewhere where you feel safe, you’ve all been on the move for a long time.”

“Safe,” Zuko scoffed. “After my mother, I never felt safe at home, not unless I was with my Uncle. I felt safer with him traveling for years on my ship and living on the run, than I did living in the palace.”

Naruko wondered about this boy. What had happened in his family that his own father and sister would attack him and hunt him down? From the way he spoke, his mother was his only support growing up until she died and his Uncle became a larger part of his life. “My friend Sakura is a medic, and she’s explained some stuff to me about how traumatic experiences in life, combined with bad emotions like constant stress and always being on guard can cause people to react badly to people or being snuck up on in the middle of the night. I know a lot of good people that hurt other’ without meaning to and I wasn’t going to let them attack you again for defending yourself.” 

Sakura had wanted to find a way to understand why Sasuke reacted to things and felt the way he did about them and had thrown herself into research. She and Ino had tried their best to explain what emotional trauma and physical trauma could do to someone, but they had used a lot of technical terms she didn’t have the background to understand. She hoped she was explaining this in a way Zuko understood, she didn’t know how their medicine was developed compared to what she knew.

“Thank you, for defending me.” 

Naruko grinned. “No problem! Everyone deserves to have someone at their back. Just be sure to work on controlling your bending like you promised Toph.”

Zuko nodded. “I will.”

They arrived at Zuko’s camp and Naruko helped him take down the tarp he was using as a cover and pack it up. The rest of his belongings fit in a single pack, though Naruko raised a brow at the dual swords.

When they arrived back at the air temple Sokka was waiting in the courtyard and he waved awkwardly when he saw them. The rubble from the fight was gone and Naruko looked around curiously. “Oh, uh, Haru cleared out the rubble and smoothed over what damage he could since Toph...uh. Yeah, so I’m gonna show you to the rooms? Naruko, you wanna come to, instead of finding a room on the other side of the temple?”

She maturely stuck her tongue out at the other boy, but followed both of them. Sokka tried to start up a conversation, but each attempt at talking to Zuko or her was almost painfully awkward. The ease and curiosity Sokka had approached her with before gone in the presence of the firebender. Sokka led them to a hallway not to far from the courtyard and left her and Zuko to pick which room they wanted.

She looked at Zuko and the two doors in front of them and shrugged. The easy silence they had walked back in felt suddenly awkward after being back with the others.

“Uh, you can pick, I’ll take the other one,” Zuko offered. 

Naruko took the closest door, opening it to see a bare room aside from a mostly clean bed against the wall. She lingered in the doorway, looking over at Zuko, who had done the same thing. “Goodnight, Zuko.”

XXX

 Kisame observed the panic. He had managed to find where they were hiding the Eight Tails and Nine Tails on their hidden island, just in time for the Nine tailed brat to apparently vanish. He stayed hidden for a while instead of immediately acting on his orders, trying to gather as much information to send back to Obito as possible. From what he had managed to gather, the stupid girl had managed to bungle her efforts in trying to control the fox’s chakra, failing to banish her inner darkness, and being consumed by some kind of spirit-revealing waterfall.

The Eight Tails and the few shinobi stationed here couldn’t figure out just what had happened, or where the girl had vanished. Kisame noted every stray word he could, and sent his notes with his summons before he enacted his orders. Any information he did not overhear could be extracted from the wood-user before Obito and Kabuto made use of him.


End file.
